For a while, I say nothing, thinking about his words.

“Emma.” It’s only as Isaac puts his hand over mine that I realise I am still grinding the cigarette butt into the ashtray. And there it is again, the hot, weighty sensation of his skin on mine.

“Have you slept with her?” I ask, without looking up. There is a raspy tone to my voice that wasn’t there a few seconds ago.

“No.”

“Because she wants to sleep with you, you know.”

He smoothes a hair back from my face then lets his hand rest on the curve of my jawbone. His eyes are narrowed, intense, scanning my face, returning again and again to my lips. I’m not stupid. I know he’s pulled this seduction routine with dozens, hundreds of other women.

“Daisy is jealous of you, Emma. You know that, don’t you?”

I move his hand from my cheek. “Now you’re being ridiculous.”

“It’s true. Why else do you think she’s stolen so many men from you in the past? She’s in competition with you and she wants to win. Daisy isn’t your friend, Emma. She’s been silently leaching your confidence for years without you even noticing.”

“You’re wrong.” I shake my head. “She’s got her faults but she’s been there for me when I’ve needed her.”

“Has she?” I jump as he grabs my hands between his. “Or has she used your moments of weakness to make herself feel stronger? Daisy needs you all right, Emma, but not in the way you think.”

I yank my hands away and press them to the floor. My head is spinning but the more I try to anchor my thoughts, the more they spin away from me. Do I feel weak, directionless and fractured because I’ve been comparing myself with Daisy and found myself wanting? Is he right? Has she been reinforcing that belief since we met?

“I’m sure she spread the rumour that I lied about Frank attacking me.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know. I know she can be cruel and—”

“Emma.” Isaac pulls himself onto his knees and crouches in front of me. “Daisy’s lashing out because she’s trying to walk her own path and she doesn’t know how to deal with it. But that’s not your issue any more. You need to let go, too. The reason you’re so confused is because you’re trying to hang on to a friendship that wasn’t good for you. It wasn’t good for either of you. Don’t worry about Daisy. And don’t worry about what happened with Frank; I’ll deal with it.”

I think of Frank in the basement below us, hidden away beneath the hatch, and the pain of what happened washes through me again.